Do you trust what it says on property information sheets? Whether it is on Zillow, MLS, or Realtor.com, the information almost always starts in a Realtor® multiple listing site. So, the information is as good as the agent who typed it in.

Bedrooms:

If a listing sheet says there are three bedrooms, you are going to find three functional bedrooms, right? Well, maybe, maybe not. Bedrooms are a definable thing: they are rooms big enough for a bed. They have a closet. They are in a private spot where one can close the door and go to sleep. Yet, just this weekend, my agents and I ran into two different problems with condos that were listed as three-bedroom properties. It happens all the time!

  • No closet: A room may be a perfectly good bedroom-sized room, but have no closet. So, that room is not legally a bedroom, even though it functions as one. Sometimes, there is a space to add a closet. Sometimes, it will be awkward.
  • That is really the living room (or dining room): I recently saw a condo that legally had three bedrooms in a five-room unit. However, if three rooms are bedrooms, then that unit had one kitchen and one room for a living room and dining room; that room was too small for both. It was really a two-bedroom condo. The third bedroom had to be a living room for typical lifestyles.

Captured bedrooms:

The term “captured bedroom” means that the bedroom has another room behind it. You can put a bed in it, but anyone coming in and out of the back room must pass through the bedroom. Captured bedrooms work in some households, but not in others. It is dubious practice to call these rooms bedrooms without clarifying on the listing sheet. A captured bedroom is not private, so buyers looking for a private bedroom will be disappointed.

Rooms

Is that one room, or two?

There is a common layout for condos. You enter the unit to one large room. That room acts as a living room and a dining room. How do you count that large room? Is it two rooms? If it has an open floor plan kitchen, is it three rooms? I see every counting variation of this in the same building describing the same floor plan.

Open floor plans

Since the 1980s or 1990s, open floor plans have become popular. New construction began to have more properties without walls between the living room and dining room, and sometimes between the kitchen, living room, and dining room. Some had second floor rooms open to cathedral ceilings above the living room. Renovators sometimes remove walls when they rebuild older properties, too. How do you count those rooms?

Mostly, I think fair play dictates that the rooms count by function. If there is enough room for a full dining room then count kitchen, living room, and dining room to equal three rooms. If it is functionally and eat-in kitchen and living room, it counts as two rooms. If the open area upstairs is big enough for a desk and bookshelves, count it as a study.

Porches, attics, and basements:

Older-style properties in the Boston area often have porches. Some are decking without walls or windows. Those, obviously, should not count as interior living area. But, what about the porch that has walls and windows, but no heat? Is it a room? Some agents think so. Does it count as a room if it is heated? Some agents think so. Does it stop counting as a room if the wall between the living room and the porch was removed, so it is now an additional four feet of living room space? It should just be living room now. See what I mean, there’s some judgment involved.

Unheated attics and basements sometimes turn into rooms. But are they rooms? Some agents count them, some don’t. Heated rooms in the basement may not be safe and legal living space; fire regulations are strict about necessary ways out in case of fire. Attics also have unheated rooms, do they count? More judgement calls there. 

How you read the property information:

As a consumer, your job is to decide what property will suit the needs of your household.

Sometimes property information sheets will give you information that is too incomplete to help you rule out properties that won’t suit you. The job of the listing/seller’s agent is to get as many people to see the property as possible. So, if you get drawn into an unsuitable place, move on.

Ways to critically read property information sheets:

  1. Consider the number of rooms compared to the gross living area. A typical five-room, two-bedroom condo is 900-1200 square feet. If you see a condo sheet that says there are seven rooms in 1000 square feet, some of those rooms will be small.
  2. Look at floor plans, when they are available. Professional listing agents usually provide floor plans. They can help you rule out condos and houses that have awkward spaces that won’t serve your needs.
  3. Look critically at the room number total and pictures. If there are more rooms than pictures, the rooms may be so small that they photograph badly. They may be counting foyers and porches and other alcoves that you won’t use as a room.
  4. Get used to the typical floor plans for the kinds of property you are looking for. There are typical condo layouts as well as house layouts. If the sheets for houses that you’ve been looking at have mostly had seven rooms, and you see one just like that, but with nine rooms, check for rooms in the basement, attic, or a porch being counted.

This kind of inconsistent data takes up time when we, the buyers’ agents, do a comparative market study. We have to translate the information on the sheets for the comparable properties, so that we can figure out what the property had and didn’t have. Then we can compare it to the one our clients seek to make an offer on.